Joe Biden Can’t Say He’s a “Devout” Catholic When He Makes Americans Fund Abortions Twice

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 12, 2021   |   11:43AM   |   Washington, DC

Throughout the entirety of the presidential campaign, Joe Biden campaigned as some “devout” Catholic who would bring some sort of moderate political approach to the White House. But yesterday Biden signed a bill that, for the second time after his order reversing President Trumps Protect Life Rule, would make Americans fund abortions.

Leading pro-life groups castigated the bill as a slush fund for the abortion industry.

As President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319), Family Research Council criticized the $1.9 trillion spending package. Without a single Republican vote, Democrats pushed through a bill that used the Covid-19 health crisis as a cover to promote policies harmful to human life and the family.

The bill Biden signed would allocate over $450 billion with no Hyde amendment protections. All four previous Covid-19 relief bills passed during the Trump administration were bi-partisan and contained Hyde amendment protections, which prevented the funds from subsidizing elective abortions.

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It would allocate over $700 million in global health funding with no Helms amendment protections, which prohibits taxpayer funding of abortions abroad. It also allocates $10 billion in foreign affairs funding that can be used to lobby for abortion overseas.

Biden’s bill would provide $350 billion to bail out state and local governments, without any pro-life protections. The vast majority of this funding would go to states with large deficits and liberal abortion laws like California, Illinois, and New York, which have chosen to directly fund abortions and subsidize Planned Parenthood instead of meeting their state’s pandemic-related expenses.

And the legislation Biden signed has subsidies for health plans on the Obamacare exchange that cover elective abortions. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates this will amount to $45 billion in tax subsidies.

FRC President Tony Perkins said: “This is government irresponsibility at its worst. Calling this a rescue act is a convenient cover for a Democrat bail out of mismanaged Blue states and a payoff of their political base. It massively funds abortion, liberal teachers’ unions, blue states, the arts, and transportation kickbacks for districts like Nancy Pelosi’s and Chuck Schumer’s.”

“President Biden ignored his promise to meet Republican lawmakers halfway by ramming through the first coronavirus bill without bipartisan support. President Biden is so little concerned with Covid that he appointed an abortion activist with no public health experience to head the Department of Health and Human Services, but he’s not above using virus scare tactics to ram through unrelated spending that will saddle the nation with another $1.9 trillion (with a T) in debt,” concluded Perkins.

Connor Semelsberger, Director of Federal Affairs for Life and Human Dignity at Family Research Council, added:

“At a time when the country is working to recover from the negative health and economic impacts of Covid-19, the pro-abortion majority in Congress has decided to cut out pro-life members from the legislative process. Instead of working to gain large bipartisan support for Covid relief legislation, which was possible just a few short months ago, Democrats are seeking to pass the largest expansion of taxpayer funding of abortion since Obamacare in 2010.:

National Right to Life also slammed Biden’s bill.

Abortion is not health care and forcing taxpayers to prop up the abortion industry during a pandemic does not help the millions of Americans deeply impacted by COVID. Pro-abortion Democrats are more interested in funding Planned Parenthood and abortion providers than in providing real solutions for the American people,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life.

Continued Tobias, “The vast majority of Americans do not want their tax dollars to pay for abortions, yet the COVID relief reconciliation bill passed by House Democrats betrays their constituents and provides for taxpayer funding of abortion.”

“The COVID-relief reconciliation bill is a Democrat wish-list,” said Jennifer Popik, J.D., director of Federal Legislation for National Right to Life. “Without Hyde Amendment protections, this legislation has the potential to put millions of dollars into the pockets of abortion providers.”